PS2 laser - life expectancy

[MrBojangles]

I recently got a messiah fitted to my v5 PS2 and the guy at the shop that installed it said that if I was playing backups I could expect the laser to last roughly 10 months.

This has prompted me to ask the following questions:

Has anybody had to replace their laser after using backups? and if yes how long did their original last and was it easy to replace?

Does anybody have any tips for prelonging the lifespan of the laser? (I assume regular lens cleaning and using good qulity cdr's and dvdr's will help?)

Thanks for any help you may give on this topic.